A new adventure awaits, and judging by the picture above, it will be a long one. Katherine and I will begin hiking the Appalachian Trail this March, starting in Springer Mtn., Georgia. We hope to make it to Mt. Katahdin, Maine by September. You can follow our adventure on our new blog: Nice Day for a Hike. For other inquiries, let me guide you.

For my 2 year stint as an extremely tall English teacher in Japan, start here.

Regarding how to avoid being bitten by dogs in Kentucky on one’s cross-country bike ride, go here.

And according to my blog statistics, the most popular search word that leads people here has very little to do with this blog. If you’ve come here to learn about that, I suggest studying this picture.

A friend agreed to donate $1 to the Association for Frontotemporal Dementia (AFTD) for each day I grow a mustache (plus an extra $1 for each day Edward grows his [Edward does not like facial hair {especially mustaches}])…

Most-searched queries to find this blog include kancho and sumo balls.

The 5th most active commenter to this blog is Ben Stephens attack dinosaur.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 9,800 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Katherine deciding between Triple Chocolate Penetration and Maple Blazer Blunt at Portland’s Voodoo Doughnut. She took the majority of the pictures on our West Coast drive from Portland to LA, so I’ll let you know when she puts them up.

So the bike trip has ended, and it was incredible. I saw more breathtaking scenery than I could possibly document…

Grass, Forest, Mountain, Sky in Yellowstone National Park

…met more amazing people supportive of this ride than I could possibly thank…

Anne, as usual, being charismatic, crazy, and contagious

…and received more uninhibited kindness than I could possibly reciprocate.

Steve, my first CouchSurfing host, opening his cabin for me for the night

Which is why saying the bike trip has “ended” isn’t exactly accurate, because its effects still linger in me. I want to explore more of the U.S. (and the world), of which this ride merely gave me a taste. I want to meet, swap stories with, and learn from the type of people to whom this ride introduced me. Most of all, I want to give more unconditional kindness of which I received so much on this ride. The kind that doesn’t hesitate or expect anything in return. Yeah, this trip definitely has not ended.

If you have any interest in a ride like this, do it! Better now than putting it off again…and again…and never getting around to it. Tell everyone that you’re going to do it, so when you’re still on the couch, they’ll encourage you to get out there…like positive peer pressure. Ask around – you may put together your bike/trip entirely on donations. Don’t worry about fancy gear; an old road/mountain bike frame and sturdy wheels will do. Plan a route. Or don’t plan a route. Give yourself 3 months. Or a year. Take your time. Take smaller roads. But not gravel roads. Meet people. Smile. And carry pepper spray for the dogs in Kentucky.